The Water Diviner is an Australian historical war drama, which is directed by Russell Crowe. Crowe also plays the lead role of Joshua Connor, an Australian farmer, who is also skilled at dowsing, or finding water. His abilities reflect the title of the film, The Water Diviner. Anyway, the Water Diviner film takes us back to 1919. Joshua’s sons, Henry (Ben O’Toole), Edward (James Fraser) and Arthur (Ryan Corr, Banished) are gone. They’ve entered the Battle of Gallipoli 4 years earlier and are believed to be dead.

 

Things take a turn for the worse, when Joshua’s wife, Eliza (Jacqueline McKenzie, Hiding) takes her own life. This changes Joshua, who begins a journey to the battlefields of Gallipoli to recover the bodies of his sons, so he can bury them alongside their mother. He heads to Turkey and meets with a hotel owner, Ayshe (Olga Kurylenko), who has also been touched by the war.

Unfortunately, he is unable to access Gallipoli, by normal means. Eventually, he makes his way to the battlefield, which is a devastating mess, and gains the assistance of a Turkish officer, Major Hasan (Yilmaz Erdogan). The pair convince an ANZAC army captain, Cyril Hughes (Jai Courtney) to help with the search. After a little while, he discovers that Hasan isn’t so helpful and was actually detrimental to his cause. Despite this, he manages to get Hasan to tell him that Arthur (Ryan Corr) may have been taken prisoner.

In order to prevent giving away spoiled, I’ll stop there. When reading through The Water Diviner reviews, you will see that critics are somewhat mixed. There are definitely plenty of reasons to like the movie, especially if you enjoy foreign television and films. It is nice to see Ryan Corr, Daniel Wyllie and Robert Mammone get roles alongside the Hollywood elite.

There are some emotional moments, which are impactful, but the film’s action is ultimately messy and chaotic. Unfortunately, the movie leaves a lot to the imagination for anyone, who is hoping to get a history lesson or learn more about the Battle of Gallipoli. Still, the film isn’t a total disaster. It is strong in some regards, including acting and the scenery is great.

The film deserves a 6 out of 10. If you’re looking for something more impactful, I suggest checking out the Australian TV series, Gallipoli. Those that are looking to explore Russell Crowe’s directorial debut will likely be left disappointed, but still, The Water Diviner is a good time killer,if you’ve got nothing else to view.